


Walk That Road

by goddessofcruelty



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Angst, Biting, Blood and Injury, Cougar Braeden, Coyote Malia, F/F, Femslash, Magical Natalie Martin, Nemeton, Rare Pairings, Strangers to Lovers, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:04:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2697326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddessofcruelty/pseuds/goddessofcruelty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her eyes finally open and there's just the barest hint of light streaming in, the air is thick with dust? – dirt – and she coughs again. This time she sees the red on her hand and looks down to see blood soaking her front as well. The dog? – coyote? – <em>Malia</em> whines again and Kira absently realizes that she's going to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“It was kind of you to walk me to my car,” Marin Morell tells the Alpha next to her with a smile, to which Satomi graciously inclines her head.

Marin's been assisting her packs since Satomi has no Emissary, and the druid is at a bit of a loose end since her falling out with Deucalion. Technically, she's still his, but he hasn't called Marin in weeks.

“Feel free to call me again if you need anything else.” Marin looks into Satomi's eyes, making it clear what's on offer. They had, in fact, been together that way many years ago – when they were both young. Now Marin is the only one that looks young, for all that she's got a hundred or so years on the wolf.

Satomi smiles and shakes her head regretfully, but whatever she's about to say is forestalled by a sudden shiver of the ground beneath them.

Marin frowns. Her connection with the earth hadn't given her any sort of warning of an impending event. “This isn't supposed to happ – ” She cuts off as another quake hits, twice as strong as before. Satomi turns and runs for the building, for her pack trapped inside, Marin on her heels, but the shockwaves keep coming and they're both thrown off their feet.. Marin's head connects with the side of a car and then there's nothing but darkness.

-

The first thing she becomes aware of is pain. All of Marin hurts, She carefully catalogs her in juries, uses her training to shunt away the worst of it. Carefully, Marin opens her eyes, winces as the bright light makes them water. Her head is throbbing, but manageable, and she gingerly pushes herself onto her side and takes socks her her surroundings.

The cement of the parking lot is buckled, pieces of it flung like blocks after a child’s tantrum.

“Satomi?” she slurs out, forcing herself to fight through the lassitude that's threatening to pull her back under. “'Tomi?”

There's a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye, fingers wiggling under a concrete slab. Marin immediately hones in on it, and pushes to her knees...and then her feet. With staggering steps, she makes her way to the Alpha.

Satomi's arm is under the concrete, but there's worse to come. As Marin moves around the giant piece of pavement, she sees that there's the better part of a pickup across Satomi's lower half. Even a beta might die from this but Satomi will pull through if Marin can find some way to –

“Ms. Morell?”

She turns and blinks as the voice registers.

“Mrs. McCall.” Marin takes a deep breath. “Can you help me get my friend free?”

Melissa tugs her shirt properly into place, and Marin politely avoids mentioning that it's buttoned all wrong. It hardly seems important at the moment.

Melissa's in nurse mode, talking to Marin about hemorrhaging and crushed limbs, until the druid belatedly catches onto her drift.

“She's – like Scott,” Marin murmurs, changing what she had been about to say as another woman limps up. Marin's cynically notes that she's somehow completely put together, hair perfect, lipstick looks freshly applied.

“Melissa? _Marin_?”

Melissa looks up from her patient, scowls. “Natalie, I told you to stay where you were.”

“Because I take orders from you,” Natalie Martin snorts, then sets down the first aid kit she'd dragged along with her. She flicks it open, starts pulling things out as she studies Marin's wounds. “I do have _some_ first aid training.”

Marin shakes her head and waves Natalie off. “We have to get that car off Satomi.”

“I don't think it will do her much good,” Natalie says doubtfully. The druid ignores her, goes over and starts pushing against the truck. The Alpha trapped beneath makes a moaning, growling noise, and Marin starts talking to her.

“It's alright, 'Tomi, I'm going to get you free.”

Natalie shakes her head in amazement, but drags herself over, injured leg and all, and helps. Melissa joins them, and between with three of them, they uncover Satomi.

Her legs look like hamburger, and Natalie has to turn away to be sick.

Melissa starts staunching the bleeding, while Marin kneels downs and puts her hands on either sides of the Alpha's head. Neither of the other women notice the faint glow surrounding Marin as she lends Satomi what little strength she has.

Melissa startles back as the wounds slowly begin to heal, the crushed legs begin to inflate.

“What the hell...” Natalie whispers, and the other three women turn to look up at her.

“Nat, dear,” Melissa says, “there's some things you don't know.

-

Kira dreams she's being suffocated, something hot and heavy holding her down. She struggles to move, summoning up all her strength, reaching out her hands and encountering – softness? Her hands flex and Kira realizes that it's _fur_. She forces herself to wakefulness, finding it surprisingly difficult to force her eyes to open. Something rough and – wet? – swipes across her face and she twitches and tries to protest but what comes out is a dry cough. There's a whine and some more swipes of the tongue and Kira finally gets enough energy up to swat ineffectually at the tongue? – yes tongue – and encounters the muzzle of an animal.

Her eyes finally open and there's just the barest hint of light streaming in, the air is thick with dust? – dirt – and she coughs again. This time she sees the red on her hand and looks down to see blood soaking her front as well.

The dog? – coyote? – _Malia_ whines again and Kira absently realizes that she's going to die. She's surprisingly ambivalent about that, up until Malia whines again and licks her face.

“Stop that,” Kira manages, and Malia backs off, sitting on her haunches and whining.

“Mal – ” she tries but gets forestalled by another coughing fit and this time she feels something break inside her chest. Malia creeps forward and licks her outstretched hand and Kira feels something drop into it. She languidly turns her head, the single action feeling like it takes forever, and then looks to see. It's something, looks like a flat piece of wood, like a – it's one of her _tails_.

“How...” Malia yips and grazes her teeth against Kira's hand while the kitsune tries to summon up the energy to draw on her power.

It seems like it takes forever, but a golden lights swirls around the prone girl, dipping into her where the hurts are and then back out again. Malia scoots all the way back against the wall, curled up as tightly as she can away from the light, cowering and flinching away when it comes close to her. This magic doesn’t taste right. But it does the job.

When the golden light fades away, Kira is sleeping, but it's a real, true sleep, and Malia can no longer smell the blood. She wiggles forward once more and curls into the kitsune's side, rests her muzzle on Kira's chest and watches over her. The coyote doesn't know how much time has passed before Kira's heartbeat gives that double skip that means she's waking up. Malia's spent a lot of time listening to that heartbeat.

Kira blinks a few times and then pushes herself up from the floor – no, dirt –

“Malia?”

The coyote yips and wags her tail and licks Kira's face again.

“Where – Are we – The Nemeton?”

Malia yips again and then points her muzzle toward the space where there should be an opening, but there's just a landslide of dirt. With no small amount of effort, over the next few hours, Kira digs herself and Malia out, and she thinks maybe the coyote is stuck that way again, because she hasn't given any sign of wanting to be human.

Finally they emerge into bright sunshine and Kira blinks a few times as she climbs up onto the stump of the Nemeton, and then looks around, one dirty hand covering her mouth as she finally sees what happened.

Malia scrabbles up beside her and the coyote is silent, pushes her head against Kira's thighs as tears makes tracks down the smudged cheeks.

Kira cries and tries to wrap her mind around what she sees. She spins a few times, just trying to take it all in, but she can't fathom this. Because for as far as she can see, in every direction, spiraling out from the Nemeton, there's nothing but devastation, a giant crater of rubble.

-

The sudden silence has Braeden cautiously prying a few fingers away from where her hands are covering her ears. She tugs the earplug free next and yes, it's _finally_ stopped. With a deep sigh of relief, she uncovers her head, yanking at all the things she'd covered her head up with.

“Lydia?” she queries, but the silence is almost as deafening as the endless screaming had been.

Braeden crawls out from under the hotel room bed, and then scrambles to her feet, rushing over to the tiny, prone form.

“Lydia!”

She presses her ear to the younger woman's chest, nose twitching at the scent of Lydia's perfume. She takes a deep sigh of relief, the banshee's heart is still beating, and promptly sneezes in triplicate. Braeden shakes her head and brushes back a lock of the strawberry blonde hair. She imagines Lydia's throat and head are going to hurt like hell when she finally comes to.

Braeden shoves the dresser away from the window and looks outside.

“Holy mother of god,” she whispers.

There's nothing left of Beacon Hills.

The house sways, and Braeden mutters. They've got to get out of here. The mercenary turns to look at Lydia, then crouches down and scoops the girl up in her arms. She carries Lydia out the door to the basement apartment, gingerly climbs the stairs that are left, and emerges into a scene straight from nightmare.

Setting her jaw, Braeden curls Lydia tighter to her body and sets off in search of shelter.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“You need to rest.”

Marin blinks up at the voice intruding into her thoughts. Or rather, lack of them. The Emissary had been drifting off rather than attempting to sort out their problem.

“I'm fine,” she says shortly, hoping the mercenary goes away. She needs to _think_ , to come up with some reason that will explain what happened – and why the Nemeton lured them all here, only to trap them inside a protective bubble.

Instead, Braeden crouches down beside her. “You've been awake since I brought Lydia here, and I'm guessing you weren't taking a nap when the quake hit.”

“I need to figure out what's happening,” Marin says woodenly, casting her mind out again, only to he rebuffed by the strange barrier around them.

“I doubt driving yourself to exhaustion is going to help with that. We've got water, food, and shelter, We're alright for a few hours.”

The food was a combination of the granola bars Melissa always carries around, trail mix from Braeden pack, and snack crackers from Natalie's purse, along with a rabbit that Malia had killed as it hopped right into the little sphere. Their water was from an apparently natural spring just to the south of the Nemeton. (Satomi had tested it first, arguing that she was most able to heal from bad water.)

Shelter was courtesy of a pup tent that Braeden packed, along with a little magicking by Marin, that now holds all eight of them. The merc still finds Marin's explanation suspicious, _“I made it believe that it was bigger”_ , but she couldn't doubt the results. She did, however, keep waiting for it to collapse in on all of them.

“Malia and Satomi will knows if something changes,” she continues the argument.

“Why do you care?” Marin says, not with heat, but gentle curiosity.

“Simple self-preservation,” Braeden says as she helps Marin to her feet. “You're the most powerful weapon we got.” Braeden ignores the surge of protectiveness she feels as the tiny woman leans into her sides. She's just over tired.

Malia lifts her muzzle and eyes Braeden as she tucks Marin in beside Satomi.

“Get some rest, old lady,” she winks, and Marin unbends enough to direct a glare at her.

Braeden chuckles as she heads back out to keep watch, unsurprised when the coyote settles down next to her. She was raised with a whole pack of dogs, back home on her daddy's ranch, and she automatically reaches up and scritches behind the coyote's ear, talking to her absently. “Couldn't sleep either, girl?”

She winces as she suddenly realizes and lifts her hand away. “Sorry, Malia.” The coyote just huffs at her and noses under the merc's hand. Braeden laughs and returns to petting Malia, and they sit like that together until the sun comes up.

Shortly after sunrise, they hear an odd ticking from behind the tent and Malia leaps up and goes streaking around it, Braeden on her heels. She stops dead at the sight of Malia tearing into a plump chicken, and at the nest full of eggs right next to them.

“Well, that's not suspicious at all,” she says to the massive stump beneath her.

“It's providing for us,” Satomi says calmly as she gathers the eggs carefully. Kira has cheese sticks stashed away in her backpack, and a can of carrots from Braeden's supplies means that they have omelettes for breakfast.

“Thank you, Satomi,” Marin says after finishing her portion, ans then looks around at her fellow refugees.

“I'd like each of us to try the barrier,” Marin says softly. “I have a theory that I's like to test.”

Satomi goes first, the Alpha quickly repelled, which Marin thoroughly expected. She already knows that she's unable to leave. Malia and Kira are prevented from leaving as well, and of course Lydia hasn't woken up yet. But when Melissa makes it through staring at them with wide eyes from the other side, Marin nods decisively.

Braeden does the math. “Humans, then?” She steps into the barrier, and feels herself pushed back, but it's not the solid wall that the Alpha and Emissary encountered. It's more like...sludge, and she thinks maybe she could fight through it if necessary. She desists at Marin's urging and steps back, crossing her arms.

Natalie is convinced to leave Lydia's side, Kira, quickly taking her place there. She, too, can leave, but it's not easy, though less strenuous than Braeden's attempt.

“But I'm human,” Braeden argues with the Nemeton, “and so is _she_.” Her arm flings out to point at Natalie.

“Perhaps,” Marin muses, and beckons Natalie closer to her. She settles her hands on Natalie's temples. There's nothing but silence as everyone watches them, then –

“ _OH_ ,” breathes Natalie and there's the faintest glow of silvery purple around her. Marin blinks and suddenly a dark green glow with black streaks twisting through it springs up around Marin, the manifestation of her own aura.

“What is that?” murmurs Melissa, and Marin turns to her as both auras fade away.

“Her magic potential,” Marin says softly. “Your girlfriend has witch blood.”

“I knew you were a witch the first time I met you,” Melissa observes dryly.

“ _Girlfriend_?!” squeaks Kira from the tent entrance, “Scott will be...” She trails off and looks away, and Melissa rushes over and wraps her arms around the teenager. “He's alive and out there, and he'll find us. Just keep him in your thoughts.”

Braeden suddenly wonders if Derek's alive out there. She's sure he must be, he's a survivor after all. With a mental shrug, she turns back to Marin. _What will be, will be._

Marin steps forward and Braeden leans forward so that the smaller woman can reach her temples. This close, Braeden can smell Marin's perfume or shampoo or something, a light floral scent. She can see the flecks of green and gold in the druid's eyes and her hands are soft against Braeden's skin.

They stare at each other for what seems like forever, and then Marin's hands fall away from the mercenary's face. An odd feeling of disappointment twists the taller woman's gut. She doesn't think too hard about what that might mean.

“Not magical,” Marin confirms and Braeden shrugs. “But something. Something strong, too.”

Marin and Satomi exchange significant glances and then the latter throws back her head and lets out an earsplitting noise. Malia lifts her muzzle and joins in.

Braeden suddenly feels dizzy, like she's looking through two pairs of eyes, and her head pounds with a sudden onslaught of noises. She flicks her ears back, lays them flat and growls low in her throat showing her displ – Wait.

Satomi and Malia stop simultaneously and everyone stares at Braeden.

“What.” She lifts her chin and looks around challengingly.

“Wait til Derek finds out he's dating a cougar,” Melissa observes. The resulting chuckles break the threatening tension.

“I have never heard of a cat shapeshifter,” Satomi murmurs, eying Braeden with an unnecessary amount of suspicion.

“I have,” Marin says cryptically. “Where did you say you're from?”

“Texas, though I was born in Arizona,” Braeden says defensively. “And I am not a cat. And I don't know anything about cougars or cat shapeshifters. Or anything.”

Braeden studies Marin studying her, and she's just about to press for more information when Kira comes to the mouth of the tent.

“Lydia's awake!”

-

“She's okay physically,” Melissa says, “as far as I can tell without a CT scan.”

Lydia hasn't said a word, or let go of Kira's hand. Natalie is holding the other.

“Satomi.” Marin's voice is like a whipcrack and the Alpha arches a brow, clearly unused to taking commands.

“I believe I can help,” she says at last, addressing Kira, who blinks up at her, clearly confused.

“Well then help?” the kitsune says impatiently, and Satomi nods and reaches for Lydia.

Natalie gets in between the wolf and her daughter, hands on her hips. “ _How_?”

“I think you should wait outside for this,” she says gently.

“I'll explain outside, Nat,” Melissa says, twining her fingers in the other woman's and tugging her towards the tent's entrance. She holds Natalie in place when a scream rings out from inside the tent, and then is abruptly cut off. Natalie struggles against her hold until Malia growls low in her throat, and then she slumps against her lover. “'Liss, what are they doing to my baby?”

“Shh, sweetie,” Melissa says into her hair, “'Tomi is going to take her memory of the quake away.”

Melissa is thankful that Natalie doesn't ask how. They wait in silence until Satomi leaves the tent, face ashen, and curls up behind the tent, Malia padding over to snuggle up to her side.

“Lydia?” Natalie rushes in and takes her daughter's face in her hands.

“It's alright, Mom, I'm alright. I know what happened.”

Natalie hugs her and then turns a hard look at Kira. “Why did she ask you and not me for permission?”

Kira wilts under that look, and then arches brow from Lydia.

“I don't...know?”

“She's eighteen,” Marin says, coming into the tent and sitting in her accustomed sleeping spot. “It's only natural to a wolf to ask her mate.”

Lydia and Kira stare wide-eyed at each other.

“Her _what_?” demands Natalie, but Marin is already fast asleep.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

It's been two days since Marin asked Natalie and Melissa to go find out some information. She feels as if she's sent them to their death. Lydia's adamant that her mother's still alive and out there, claiming she's “probably raiding Macy’s”. Marin doesn't think so. They were lucky to be saved. The Nemeton lured the current supernatural creatures here for a reason. She just wishes she knew what that reason was.

Marin turns the problem over in her mind a few times, since her efforts with the Nemeton have gotten her nowhere. She's curled up on herself when Braeden brings her a cup of broth that Satomi made from what was left of the chicken and some salt packets. It's surprisingly good. She sips it silently, after a nod of thanks.

Marin arches a brow as Braeden settles herself next to the smaller woman, looking over expectantly. Braeden mulls over what she wants to say a long moment, then turns her head and looks at Marin. “They're all dead, aren't they?”

Marin's gaze darts to the coyote guarding the tent, and then gives Braeden another silent nod. She's almost certain of it, but she doesn't want to worry the children.

Braeden nods, her suspicion confirmed, and then turns to look up at the stars another long moment. She doesn't speak until Marin's done with her soup and then she considers the druid once more.

“Why did the Nemeton save us?”

Marin sighs and rests her chin on her knees. “I don't know, child.”

Braeden gives an amused snort, then watches the stars some more before she starts thinking out loud. “We got an Emissary, a wolf, a banshee, a mountain lion, a fox, a coyote, and two humans. Was it looking for one of each kind, like a miniature Noah's Ark? Or maybe just the closest of each kind? Was it person specific, or just in general? Like, Braeden or the closest mountain lion?” She turns to Marin. “And since when can the Nemeton cast it's own spells? Ii thought it just held a power reserve for those who could use it.”

Marin opens her mouth to explain as Braeden sits up, and then closes it with a snap as something dawns on her. The druid leaps to her feet and places a kiss to the top of the younger woman's head. “Brilliant, Braeden, you've given me an idea.”

Braeden blinks, thoroughly ignoring the warmth in her gut – and lower – at the kiss from Marin, and just stares after the woman.

-

“I think I finally have an idea of why we were saved,” Marin says, looking at the women in a circle around the inside of the tent, “but I'm going to need some of everyone's blood to be certain.”

There's some glances but at this point everyone's willing to do whatever Marin needs. She collects everyone's blood, including her own in a small dixie cup, and then brings it to her lips – and drinks it.

“Ew,” Kira can't resist saying, wrinkling up her nose. Lydia rolls her eyes and squeezes the kitsune's hand.

Marin whispers something and green smoke extends from her lips to wreath in halos over her own head, as well as Satomi's, Malia's, and Lydia's. Braeden glances up, but there's nothing over herself and Kira.

“Just as I suspected,” Marin says, “it wasn't the Nemeton that saved us. It was someone else, using the Nemeton's power.”

“Who?” Braeden puts in, unnerved by someone able to direct that much power.

“My brother.” Marin and Satomi exchange glances, while Malia huffs and Kira just looks confused.

“Dr. Deaton? But why?”

“That requires some history,” Marin says, leaning back slightly. “Years ago, Alan loved a woman, and a woman loved him. But they were not the same woman.”

“He loved Talia,” Lydia says boredly, “we already knew that.”

“The woman that loved him was called Katherine. And she was a witch.” Marin narrows her eyes at Lydia, then resumes her story. “Talia was not the type to settle with one man, but she wished to have her children born wolves, so she requested a mating with another Alpha. No other pairing will produce full wolves. But this alpha was possessive and jealous beneath his charming exterior, and when he saw who she had taken up with, he was enraged. He attacked and bit the man.”

Lydia's eyes turn thoughtfully to Marin now. “Deucalion and Alexander Argent.”

“When Gerard Argent came to town, Alan must have put some sort of trapdoor spell on the Nemeton – if a catastrophic event occurred, it should save the Hale Alpha, the Emissary...and Katherine.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” says Kira.

“Magic is...complicated. You can't be exact with things like the Nemeton. Like, you couldn't tell it to protect Kira Yukimura, but you could ask it to protect the nearest female fox spirit. And if you put female first, it could _possibly_ save only those identifying as women.”

Lydia sits up straight. “Malia's the only female Hale around, Satomi's the only female Alpha, you're the female Emissary...”

“And you – and your mother – are Kathleen's bloodline.” Marin finishes with the hint of a smile. “The others were merely saved with their proximity to those of us who were targeted by the spell.”

Kira frowns. “But why is Malia stuck as a coyote again.”

Marin arches a brow at Kira. “She's not _stuck_ , per se. Human emotions are just at a distance when you're an animal...and she just lost everyone she's attached to except you. If she changes back, she'll have to deal with them.”

Lydia drums her nails on her thigh. “And you're only telling us all of this because you need our cooperation.”

“It's too bad you were bitten, child, you'd've been an excellent Emissary.”

-

“I still don't understand how this works.” Braeden crouches down next to Marin outside the tent, looks out into the flattened forest that they can't reach. Everyone is asleep, Malia at Satomi's side, Kira and Lydia wrapped around another, all in the tent, but Braeden's too nervous about what comes in the morning to sleep. She's not entirely comfortable around magic.

“I use the combined supernatural energy of all of us - and the Nemeton - to revert us to where we were when Alan set the spell.”

“Time travel,” Braeden says flatly.

“Essentially, though not in the way that your typical story would have it. More of a restart for all of you.”

Braeden narrows her eyes. “And what about you?”

Marin smiles, but her eyes are distant. “I will remember. I have to, in order to prevent what happened, which I'm still unsure about.”

Braeden shakes her head. “So I won't know who you are?” It's meant as casual, but it comes out a bit plaintive, and the tone has Marin looking at Braeden, really _looking_ at her, and the druid says, “Oh.” very softly.

“Oh?” Braeden suddenly feels defensive and she crosses her arms. Marin mutters something under her breath and then she rises and shoves Braeden backwards. The mercenary lands on her ass, blinking up, startled at the sudden assault. And then she's not startled anymore, because it all becomes clear when Marin presses her lips to the taller woman's as she straddles Braeden's lap.

Braeden lets Marin lead the kiss for all of thirty seconds, and then she wraps her hands around Marin's waist, and flips them quickly so that she's pinning the Emissary to the surface of the Nemeton beneath them. She slides a hand up and curls it in Marin's hair, tugs it a little roughly, and then drags her tongue slowly along the side of the bared neck.

Marin lets out a loud gasp and Braeden's gaze flicks up to the tent.

“Silence spell,” Marin says smugly, and Braeden nods and looks down.

“Good.” The heat in the younger woman's eyes sends a shiver through Marin, and then suddenly they're both tearing at clothing, tugging and pulling until Marin's bare to the air, and Braeden's just in her underthings.

Marin reaches for her, but Braeden wraps one hand around the druid's tiny wrists and pins them above her head. She interrupts the token protest with a fierce kiss, thrusting her tongue into Marin's mouth while her free hand slides down and cups the smaller woman's breast, thumb sliding across the nipple gently.

Braeden takes her time exploring Marin's body, pulling back from kiss-swollen lips to trail little love bites across Marin's arched neck when her teasing fingers finally slide between the druid's legs. She draws tiny circles against the soft skin, gradually getting closer and closer as Marin arches up, biting her lip.

“Oh, you want something?” Braeden asks, eyes twinkling, and Marin can't help but laugh delightedly.

“Don't make me turn you into a frog, little girl,” she taunts, although it loses a bit of its threat when Braeden brushes her thumb lightly over a certain tiny bundle of nerves and Marin cries out softly.

“Mmhmm,” the merc snorts, and then latches onto a nipple as her thumb continues swirling over Marin's clit, and the druid writhes in place under Braeden's ministrations.

The Emissary's moans are getting ever louder and Braeden pulls away from the nipple long enough to lift her face up and murmur against Marin's soft lips.

“You gonna come for me, baby?”

Marin arches her neck so that her mouth presses against Braeden's, kissing desperately as the warmth in her gut blossoms and by the time she hits the edge, they're not even kissing anymore, and Braeden sinks her teeth into Marin's lower lip. And that's what does it, and the druid throws her head back and cries out into the night and she shudders under Braeden's fingers, then collapsing back down with a few tiny whimpers as the merc's thumb swirls a few more times, just barely touching.

Braeden feels a tightness in her throat, that surge of protectiveness coming to the fore, and she pulls Marin close, sighing softly as she realizes this is the only moment she's ever going to get like this.

The shorter woman nestles into Braeden's side for a while, and then she pulls back and turns, pushes Braeden gently to her back.

“We've got several hours yet,” Marin smirks and then moves lower and buries her face between Braeden's thighs.

-

“Everyone hold hands, and whatever happens, do not let go.” Marin looks around at all of them seriously. “This is going to feel like your soul is being ripped out, and you've got to let that happen.”

The pain is beyond anything Braeden's ever experienced before, and as she starts to scream, she hears the other women's voices joining hers. And then there's nothing.

-

Braeden opens her eyes slowly, frowning at the ceiling. What had woken her up? And then she hears it, a light tapping at her door. She grabs a robe – and a gun – and goes to open the door, the gun pointed at heart- level.

There's a tiny woman on the other side, and she smiles at Braeden in a way that sets off every single one of Braeden's self-preservation instincts.

“I'd like to hire you,” she says. “I'm Marin Morrell.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiration: Bet My Life - Imagine Dragons


End file.
